[daveT]

True, entertainme. I guess I am glossed over because I live in LA. I think that the area that you live in also has an impact on how much you are qualified to have children. I know that people having children too early costs us way too much money. For example, in California, all prenatal to low-income parents (less than 25k) is paid for by the state. With WIC, etc, the costs of raising a child is hampering to the society.

Let's say I live in Mobile, Al, where the average income is like 20k a year, rent in a house is 400 a month, etc, then raising a child when you are younger is much easier and probably better, due to strong familial ties, easier living standards, and the fact that there would be less competition for a good job. Surely, a low-income person would be able to find a job in a factory earing 10/ hr and do swell for his family.

I posit that my generalizations may be wrong. If you have a child too early here, you are asking for trouble.

I want to believe that the majority of the posters here want "more" from their lives, whatever that may mean. It is much harder, if not impossible to chase and fulfill "more" when this is compounded with the stress of raising children. I understand that this is not a nice statement, that some people believe that children give all you need in life, but I think that parents should be able to think to about the dependents lives before they decide to create them. If they are not able 90% guarantee stability in marriage, income, etc, then I think it would do them better to wait. For some, there is no other goal but to have children, I respect and envy them.